Dragon Ball Fate's Call
by Ekiwado
Summary: Body, Power, and Essence, these three shall emerge when history is to repeat itself, will they merge back into one to stop it from happening? Or will they be the ones stopped? I know, this summary kind of sucks, but its all I could think of without risking spoilers for what I have planned. Elements of Z, GT, and Super are present so, buckle up, this one could get weird...
1. Chapter 0

**Prologue: History**

Long ago before mankind walked the earth, in a distant corner of the universe a righteous race of warriors thrived. This race was the Sayajins. In these ancient times the Sayajins were upholders of the will of the Kaio, endowed with golden power and trusted with upholding the balance in the universe. Our story begins here during this time of righteous Sayajins as a new king prepares to ascend to the throne. The old king had two sons, Daikon the eldest able to use the 'Golden Technique' to its second level and already trained to rule alongside his mate Ginger, and Ao the younger son. Normally the eldest would also be the strongest and most experienced, but Ao had a lust for adventure and battle, as a child he befriended a lower class sayajin child and learned of the struggles that the majority of his people would face to gain power. Now an adult Ao was in control of a small yet powerful strike force, all of his underlings could use the golden technique to the first form, and control the oozaru. His childhood friend, now his sub-commander, Dante could us the golden technique to the second form. Ao's force was impressive but on most missions Ao alone would handle the conflict, Ao was the only Sayajin to truly master the golden technique, not only achieving the third form but being able to sustain it for weeks at a time. When the old king found that he would not be able to rule much longer he ordered Ao's team home so Ao could rise to the throne. The old king believed this to be the best as Ao Knew the people and was a strong figure for them to follow.

"Prince Ao! We've received word from home, we've been ordered by your father, the king, to return immediately."

"Right. Dante give the order we're going home." Ao was somewhat irritated by the sudden order to return but the men had been away for nearly five years, they could use a break. "And Dante, after that tell them to finish all assignments quickly so we can relax before getting there."

"Yes sir! ALRIGHT YOU LAZY BUNCH QUIT LOUNGING AROUND AND FINISH YOUR WORK DOUBLE TIME! We're going home." Dante said the last bit gently though still loud enough to be heard easily. "SO MAKE SURE YOU FINISH EVERYTHING SO WE DON'T HAVE TO WASTE OUR PRECIOUS TIME ON PLANET DOING THESE SIMPLE CHORES!" Dante may be as homesick as the next soldier but he still needed to show authority, even if this crew were more like a traveling group of friends than a military unit.

That was the way it was when traveling with the same men for so long, each one became close, and that made things easier and harder at the same time. It was made easier due to the increased trust and unity, but was made difficult because when a comrade would fall everyone took the loss more severely than in a normal unit. Although, normal units didn't have Ao as the leader. Dante truly believed that Ao took the losses the hardest. There had been few over the years but he took each one as a personal insult. Even though to an outsider Ao seemed distant at best, Dante knew differently. Dante was just a small child when he met Ao; he lived in the seventh district which had a reputation for being the crime capital of the planet. He was returning from his warrior training alone one night when several of the ones responsible for upholding the districts reputation started trying to either intimidate him into joining them, or provoke him into attacking. He attacked; it proved to be a mistake. Dante may have been skilled for his age; however he was up against four fully grown men. Dante was small, even as a grown man he was still the height of a young teen, and he was out numbered. Had it been a one-on-one fight he might have won, but as it stood he was going to lose, and he doubted they'd let him live long enough to try again. Just as Dante had resigned himself to taking out as many of them as he could before he died, a Ki blast suddenly struck one of the men who he wouldn't have been able to block. "That's enough." Ao had appeared just in time, although at first Dante didn't know if that was a good thing or not. He was quickly convinced that the newcomer was on his side as the men began to attack him instead. Dante was left to marvel at how strong the other boy was. They appeared to be about the same age, but Ao, he was a prodigy and trained harder than ten men. Rumors said he was close to learning the first form of the 'Golden Technique'. When Dante had learned that Ao was the prince he was confused as to why the prince was in the slums, but when Ao had confessed to leaving the royal sector and exploring the others out of boredom, Dante was put at ease.

Dante was snapped out of his thoughts when a soldier informed him that there was an incoming communication. "Put it through."

"Dante, good to see you again." The voice of Daikon rang out as his image came up on the screen. "Is my brother available?"

"Of course Prince Daikon, Sigma, go inform Prince Ao that Prince Daikon requires an audience with him."

"Yes sir!" Sigma said as he went to Ao's quarters. Sigma returned with Ao after just a couple minutes.

"What is it Brother?" Ao asked in a mostly respectful tone.

"It is Father; he wants to speak with you once more before he dies which he fears will be soon. I will go and wake him now." After a short pause Daikon returned half carrying an old sickly king who still held an air of absolute authority despite his weakened state.

"Ao my son, it is good to find you well." The old king's voice was deep and powerful, still sounding as if he was in his prime and at perfect health; however those who had been with him often could also hear the slight strain on his breathing. "I have heard of your recent progress and battlefield exploits, and you have made me proud. It is because of this, and your reputation with our people that I have decided to name you as my successor."

"Yes father, it is not my place to question your decision, however I am confused. I thought I would only take the throne if Daikon proved unfit to rule? As we can all see he is healthy and if he were traitorous you would have imprisoned him?" Ao was genuinely confused about his father's judgement but would do as ordered. When the old king was about to speak again he started coughing instead and had to be put back in bed, Daikon came back to the screen to speak.

"Don't feel bad my king, I have known for some time what father was planning. I suggest you hurry back I don't think father will last much longer."

"Yes, you are right Brother. We will travel at our highest speed, although we will be unable to communicate while maintaining that speed. Dante, how long will it take to return at our top speed?"

"Approximately ten days, my King. Eight if we travel through the neutral zone."

"No we will not risk war just so we get home two days early, Daikon, we will see you in ten days."

"Right, see you then." And with that the communication was terminated and the crew went to work stating the accelerated journey. After nine days and sixteen hours, Ao's ship was beginning to slow to an appropriate speed for landing. Two hours later they were being greeted by the spaceport staff. A guard stood with Daikon awaiting Ao's approach. "Welcome home my King. We are pleased to see you returned to us safely." Daikon said once Ao had gotten close enough that he would be able to greet his brother normally. "Unfortunately we must get you to the palace immediately. Father passed yesterday and there is much to do to ensure safety for our people."

"Right, then let's go. And Daikon, it's good to be home." For the next several years, Ao ruled the planet. He led them to peace with many of their neighbors, and even earned them the trust and respect of the Kaioshin. A feat that had not been accomplished since the warrior who gained their respect enough to be granted the 'Golden Technique' and that was almost ten generations ago. Ao had not left the planet for more than a week for peace talks, since he received the crown. He had long since yearned for battle and was almost hoping someone would violate a treaty or refuse to sign one. He would not start a war himself just so he could fight, but he would not hesitate if someone else started it. However what he didn't know is that at that moment, in the farthest corner of the galaxy, a new threat to the universe was running rampant and heading his way. The wizard Bibidi had created his monster, Majin Buu, and had been using it in an attempt to control the universe through fear. Majin Buu had already attracted the attention of the Kaioshin and was continuing its destruction of the area.

"My King, we have received reports from the twenty-third planet in the third district. It seems they too have been attacked and destroyed by the same unknown force as the last twenty planets. If this continues I'm afraid our allies will start to doubt our power and loyalty. What are your orders?"

"Send word to the nearby planets that I will personally handle this matter. Daikon you are in command here and should the worst happen you are to assume the throne. These are my orders and they are final. Now prepare my ship and find the next target. MOVE!" Ao was elated. He had been listening to these reports for weeks, this was the fifth allied planet to be wiped out, and it would be the last. He had kept training and was as sharp as ever, no, he was sharper. He was certain he could handle any threat that came his way. Ao's ship had departed within the hour and he was heading to an uninhabited artic planet that reports said the monster was heading to. He quickly powered up to golden form three, hoping that this creature was worth coming out himself for. Shortly after he powered up however the Dai-Kaioshin had appeared before him.

"Lord Ao, I am afraid I cannot allow you to pursue this enemy. Let us handle it." The gentle fat man left no room for arguments. However Ao didn't care.

"Apologies Dai-Kaioshin, but this creature has attacked my allies, and cannot be forgiven. I must at least try."

"I understand. I was simply trying to stop you from entering a battle I am unsure that you could win. And now I realize that telling you that had only hardened your resolve to fight. You are truly a great warrior and a superb leader; it has been a pleasure to know you." The Dai-Kaioshin bowed his head to Ao and teleported away leaving only Ao and his crew onboard the ship. An hour after Dai-Kaioshin left, Ao was on the planet heading to the battle that was already taking place. He arrived in time to witness the West Kaioshin was about to be destroyed. Wasting no time he sped his flight so that he could block the blast that would have destroyed the only female Kaioshin. By the time the "dust" had cleared the strange pink childlike creature had left. He looked behind him at the Kaioshin he had saved and was relieved that she had survived the final attack. Ao carefully picked up the unconscious Kaioshin and headed back to his ship. Upon arrival he ordered the Kaioshin healed and the creature tracked. Days passed and they could find no trace of Majin Buu. It wasn't until the Kaioshin awoke that they learned what it was and where it had gone. An infant planet far from everything, and with no sentient life. Ao had learned a truth when he blocked that last attack, a truth that would allow him to surpass the 'Golden Technique' and defeat the creature. He only hoped that this infant planet would have a moon big enough to be of use….

Once the ship was within range of the infant Earth, Ao ordered the ship and crew to stay there and he alone would approach the planet. Ao entered a one-man pod and headed towards the planet. Upon arrival Ao sought out where Buu and Bibidi would land. On his way there Ao had observed the planet, mostly water, the tides were incredible. Every small flux in the water was like a tsunami. Then he saw the reason for the strong tides, the Earth's moon was very close to the surface of the planet, making it appear huge, almost like there was another planet that shared the orbit with the Earth. Ao didn't transform though, the moon was partly covered by thick storm clouds. That was okay though, he didn't need it yet. Then he arrived there just as they did.

"Greetings, Majin Buu!" Ao called out as their ships entrance opened. "I apologize for missing you on that frozen planet; I am here now for our fight." This call was answered by a high, childish voice shouting out in glee. Ao was confused by the appearance of Majin Buu. He was fat, and jolly looking, nothing like the monster he had glimpsed before. His power was still incredible though, but less now for some reason.

"Are you really strong?" The fat man-child asked. Ao assured it that he was. "Okay, we fight now. You ready?" It wasn't really a question, as soon as Buu had asked it, he attacked. The initial battle was vicious; Ao was on the defensive due to the surprising speed of the fat man-child. That changed quickly however as Ao adjusted his power to better match Buu. Ao was secretly glad his opponent had weakened; his original plan was to stall until the full moon rose, but with this reduced power Ao had a slight chance without the moon. He would still transform like he had planned but only if he hadn't won by then. Then moon rise was two hours away when the fight started, and after an hour and forty-five minutes, Ao caused a break in the fight.

"It's been fun fighting with you so far Buu. However, you are about to witness the true power of my people." Ao began telling Buu about the transformations that the Sayajins underwent on the full moon, the explanation took almost fifteen minutes, as Ao was talking slowly so that he wouldn't have to wait after it for the moon. "Look behind me now Buu, the moon on this planet is rising and is so close it always rises full." And Ao began to transform into the oozaru, however this time he grew bigger, and his fur turned gold. "So… much… POWER!" Ao's transformed voice shouted as the primal power and instincts of the oozaru took over his mind.

Buu didn't stand a chance once Ao transformed, and Bibidi knew that. He watched in terror as the giant beast destroyed his creation. Bibidi had tried his control spells on Ao when the fight first started, but the sayajin king was too righteous, and now the primal instincts were too underdeveloped too control. Bibidi knew he only had one option, he would have to put Buu into his shell to save him and then he would revive Buu and destroy the monkey's planet after destroying its moon just to be safe. His plan worked once Buu was back in the shell the monkey left it alone and Bibidi was able to use his other servants to push the moon out of its close orbit into a farther one which also pushed it away from Ao. Ao was just getting control back and felt his power start to rise when the moon started to move away. Knowing he had to do something quick before his power receded again he turned to the shell he saw Buu get sucked into. Conjuring up most of his remaining strength, which was not as much as he had hoped, he used it not to blast the shell for that might jar it open, but to put a seal on it. When the seal was placed, Ao returned to normal and began to age rapidly. Ao crawled to a rock and waited for the end.

"I thought I told you not to approach the planet?" Ao said when he felt a familiar power approaching.

"Yes sire you did. But it is my duty to protect you and that sometimes means I disobey." Dante replied as he and the West Kaioshin approached.

Ao chuckled then looked at them both. "My power, my essence, and my being have been divided by the final technique I used. Into three parts I divide, one sealed with the beast, one to awaken when powers align, and one to slumber here until awakened by one whose seed will have a hand in fate. It is up to the two of you to protect this place, and to keep the truth alive." As Ao finished telling them his final order he smiled gently and died, turning to stone as he did. Dante and the Kaioshin paid their last respects and left as a stone chamber began to form around Ao's final resting place.

**~A/N~**

I do not own Dragon Ball.

Welcome to the beginning of the story. This is here to set the tone for how I will be treating certain things about the Dragon Ball universe. As well as to start introducing the main OC's I will be using. If you do not like OC stories I am telling you now, you are reading the wrong author. I will not focus soley on my OC's but they will be in the main spotlight.

Main thing I needed to establish with this prologue is that in my view, the Legendary Super Saiajin is the SS4 form. The SS1-SS3 forms are something else entirely. As for SSG and Blue... I will get to those later, if I continue this story past Buu, which is likely but not set in stone.

That is all I have to say on this for now, we will be jumping closer to the start of Dragon Ball next chapter.

Drop a Review to let me know how I'm doing and I will see you next Chapter!


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Fate's Beginning**

**Age 735**

Doctor Briefs and his wife looked around the cavern that had recently been discovered by their excavation robots, their two year old daughter squealing in excitement at the machines working around them. They had been searching for this particular chamber for almost two decades. Doctor Briefs was a brilliant roboticist and had once considered geology and ancient legend to be completely unrelated. That was until twenty years ago when he met a gorgeous blonde high school student who was convinced otherwise. Three years later she had discovered something which had him convinced that her theory bore further investigation. That discovery was what appeared to be a landing craft from some sort of spacecraft. They believed that to be the case as it held similar designs to their infant space crafts but was much smaller, only long enough for a single fully grown man, and it seemed to have no fuel tanks. Truthfully they had originally believed it to be an old prototype missile or bomb. What had changed that perception had been that it was hollow and had some life support systems. For four years they studied it and could only learn that it was in fact a short range craft from space. They had two theories about it, which may or may not be contradictory. Doctor Briefs had believed that it was proof of alien life beyond the range of their perception, perhaps an extinct neighbor race. The young blonde geologist believed it cemented an ancient origin myth that a righteous warrior had used their infant planet as a battleground to vanquish a powerful demon, and that at the end of that battle, though victorious, the warrior would perish to rise again if the demon ever returned, and that his power led to the evolution of mankind. In the end they had decided to explore both options. A young woman from the budding space program in Central City volunteered to be launched into space in the ancient vessel, and the Briefs, for the Doctor had married the stubborn blonde, would excavate the area around where the vessel was discovered in hopes of finding the mythical warriors tomb that was said to have formed around him.

The couple's thirteen year old daughter suddenly called out, she had found something. Making sure their younger daughter was with them, the pair went over to inspect what their older daughter had found. Tights, the thirteen year old, had found a statue of a man. He sat cross-legged on the ground and appeared to be only just larger than some of the larger men that were working on the crew under the Briefs. He seemed to have a tail and was quite well defined despite being what appeared to be a natural stone formation, though he was faceless after the ages that had passed. Tights had already proven to be a prodigy for languages which was why she was so excited by her discovery. Behind the stone figure was an image of a great tailed ape and there was something written beneath the image. It was not written in any language known on Earth, however Tights was certain her strange little friend, Jaco, would be able to help them decipher it. They were delayed from contacting him however when Mrs. Briefs brushed the statue and suddenly cried out as though in pain. Tights and her Father watched in awestruck fascination as Mrs. Briefs swelled up as though experiencing an accelerated pregnancy. Which it turned out she was. Tights was told by her Father to take her sister Bulma back to their current residence and to send the on-site doctor to their location. Tights did as she was told, and less than an hour later, her parents came in, carrying a baby boy with brilliant blue hair, and they told her his eyes were the same color. What her parents didn't tell her was that while the baby was being born, a disembodied male voice had sounded around them.

**"My Essence has been born unto your world. He must be trained for in his lifetime the Majin shall return. He will be a prodigy in all he applies himself to. He may never be the strongest or the most powerful, but his skill and knowledge will unite the other two. This is the gift bestowed to him by his mother. What he has inherited from me is a warrior's instinct. As he grows he will gain a more thorough understanding of himself and others." **The voice was deep and animalistic and faded as soon as it had appeared. Another thing that they hadn't told her, which was also the reason they hadn't mentioned the voice in the first place, was that only her mother had actually heard the voice, and that it had faded when the baby had left her womb….

**Age 745**

"This is it Ladies and Gentlemen! The finals of the Twentieth Tenkaichi Budokai!" The Ring Announcer screamed into his microphone. A twelve-year-old Bulma watched from beside her parents and twenty-three year old sister. She gulped softly, feeling nervous about what she was about to watch. "Who will be our CHAMPION? Will it be the untouchable King Chappa!?" There were two distinctive groups that were equally loud and pronounced that responded to this, one cheering, the other booing. Bulma could tell the cheering section was smaller, though they seemed to hold Chappa in a reverence befitting his title of King. "Or the ten year old highlight reel Azure!?" This time the response was deafening as the ones who had booed Chappa were joined by the majority of the crowd who had remained silent when Chappa had been introduced. Bulma felt her own nerves calm when she heard the resounding support her brother was getting. "Chappa has won each round with ease and has yet to even be hit by his opponents, but his opponent has visibly improved every time he's clashed with an opponent! Will Azure's Lightning Learning be enough to score a win over Chappa? Or is Chappa just too far beyond Azure's level for any hope of victory?" The announcer paused to let the audience settle down a bit. "I don't know the answer! So without further ado…" He pointed to Chappa. "Fighter, are you ready?" A harsh glare and a sharp nod were his response. He turned to Azure. "Fighter… Are YOU ready?" An eager bounce was his response. "Well then, let the match….. BEGIN!" The Announcer made a grand chop with his arm and quickly exited to the ringside area so he could continue his commentary duties.

Bulma watched with baited breath as Azure rushed Chappa only to suddenly leap backwards with a startled look on his face. Chappa hadn't moved but something had triggered his instincts to dodge. Chappa graced Azure with an arrogant smirk then began a rush of his own. Bulma held her breath without realizing it as for two solid minutes, Azure dodged, blocked, redirected, and occasionally absorbed a rapid assault that seemed as mere blurs of color to her. But just as fast as it had begun, it stopped. Chappa lashed out with a lightning fast kick and broke straight through Azure's guard, catching him in the jaw and launching him straight into the air. What followed were thirty seconds that could only be described as severe child abuse. Chappa proved that he had not been fighting at his peak thus far and nailed a helpless Azure with every shot, all while screaming at him that he had asked for this by entering the tournament and not surrendering when Chappa had been named his opponent.

"The winner, and Champion of the Twentieth Tenkaichi Budokai… King Chappa!"

**Age 749**

A fourteen year old boy with waist length blue hair sat in his families expansive gardens tinkering on a custom, single passenger jet he was developing to work with and optimize the hover board he had designed and refined over the past several years. Behind him his blonde mother entered the grounds with a tray of tea and cookies.

"Azure?" Mrs. Briefs asked in shock at seeing her only son was home. "I thought you left with Bulma several days ago?" Azure suddenly dropped his tools and spun to face his mother.

"She already left!? How long have I been working out here!? Why didn't she get me?" Azure was still ranting and shouting at no one as he rushed out of the gardens and jumped onto his hover board taking off into the skies. Mrs. Briefs knew he would figure out his own meal once the panic and focus subsided and allowed him to realize he was hungry. It used to worry her that he could work for weeks without stopping if left alone. The only thing that reassured her was that he had taken to carrying a house capsule that had a fully stocked, restaurant grade, kitchen that he was more comfortable using than even their most senior chefs.

Azure was flying at breakneck speeds and at suicidal altitudes to give him as much visual range as possible to spot his sister. He started to question if he should lower his altitude and slow down though when he spotted a pair of kids flying on a cloud, followed by an old man wearing a turtle shell on his back, sitting on a rapidly spinning black turtle with a ring of fire around it. Azure realized they had both landed near Frypan Mountain which was right in front of him. Deciding he should land and check if they've seen Bulma, assuming he hadn't hallucinated them, and that he really needed to eat, Azure began landing. He just dismounted when a bright beam of light crashed into the burning mountain, causing it to explode. Hunger once more forgotten, Azure slowly crept up towards where he thought he saw the others land and hid himself when he sensed they were near. Peeking around the corner Azure saw Bulma talking to a giant, a tiny kid with spiky black hair and monkey-like tail, a talking pig, a young girl in an armor-bikini-thing, and an old man, who was shirtless for some reason. Stepping out of his cover, Azure calmly approached the group, his instincts telling him that they were alright.

"Oi, Bulma!" He called as he grew close enough. "You going to introduce me?" Azure's answer came first in the form of a decently sized rock whizzing past his head and an irate Bulma yelling at him for ignoring her and not coming along when she left, which he apologized for absently. He was more concerned with the yelp he's thought he'd heard from where the rock had landed. Azure's attention refocused when Bulma began running through introductions of her companions. Goku, the monkey-tailed boy with the spikey hair, Oolong, the talking pig. Goku was supposedly super strong, and it sounded to Azure that Oolong should have been born a chicken. Gyumao, the giant and guardian slash leader of this area, and his daughter Chi-Chi, the girl in the armor-thong and laser helmet, Azure subtly adjusted his position to be out of her immediate line of fire.

"Bulma, you're so mean, not introducing me too." The old man pouted after Bulma had introduced everyone else, including Azure to the others. He had put his shirt back on now and was starting to pester Bulma for leaving him out. Azure thought about imposing himself to separate them but could tell the old man was no threat to Bulma so decided to leave him be.

"Oh alright. Geez!" Bulma swatted the old man before turning back to Azure. "Azure this old letch is Master Roshi, the Turtle Hermit. Letch, this is my brother Azure, runner up in the last Tenkaichi Budokai, which was held when he was ten by the way." Azure grimaced at that part. He didn't like to think about the last tournament since he held a deep rage at the winner of that particular tournament. Not because he had lost, but because of how. Azure had known everything Chappa had screamed at him was true, but there was a difference from being a sportsman and warning an inferior opponent, and being a dick who just berated them. Azure would often tell people to guess which one Chappa was. Azure distracted himself by sizing up the legendary Turtle Hermit. Azure had thought of seeking out a master after his loss, but he could find none strong enough to be able to offer him anything to strive for and could only find rumors about the Turtle and his rival Crane. Suddenly a loud grumbling was heard and Bulma looked between Goku and Azure. "So whose stomach was that?" She asked, surprising both boys. Azure didn't answer and instead pulled out his trusty capsule.

"Who's hungry?" He asked as he walked inside the unassuming house that appeared. Goku began chanting that he was, and the others also followed them inside, though much more politely. Azure quickly prepared several dishes and while they were in a stage where he could neglect them for a few minutes he gave Bulma, Chichi, and Oolong some simple instruction for the various dishes and went to grab a quick shower. He returned to the kitchen just as he was needed and expertly finished and served the meal. The table had to be moved outside since Gyumao couldn't quite fit inside comfortably and the group ate and chatted about various things. Azure asked Bulma, Goku, and Oolong about what had happened before he caught up. Bulma asked him how long it had taken him to get the message that she was already gone, and Oolong asked what it was like growing up with Bulma. As Azure finished eating what he needed, he sensed another presence approaching and decided to slip away to check it out. He found a small scared girl sneaking towards the table, she was armed with a child's slingshot which she held at the ready. Azure stepped into the open and called out to her. She screamed, jumped, spun around and fired all at once.

"You're not a bad shot with that thing." Azure whistled as he stood back up, having bent backwards to avoid getting hit in the face by the rock shot from the slingshot. "You are scared though, so tell me, why is a scared little girl out here all by herself?" The girl hesitated for a moment, apparently waiting to see if Azure would retaliate for getting shot at. When it became clear he wasn't going to, she hardened her face as much as her age allowed and took one step towards Azure.

"I am looking for the famous Gyumao. Do you know where I can find him?" She asked with only a slight amount of fear in her voice. Azure quickly glanced past the girl before focusing on her and matching her movement of one step closer he replied.

"And why are you looking for him? I can tell by your voice that he scares you as much as whatever caused you to come here ready to shoot. So why subject yourself to that level of fear?"

"It's none of your business!" The girl screamed as she quickly gathered up a second stone to fire at Azure. Her movements told Azure she would run if she got the shot off so he sped over to her and caught her hand before she could get the shot ready.

"You made it my business when you shot at me." Azure said darkly. "I can tell that you aren't just here because of some stupid dare from your friends. You are here for a reason. Tell me why!" Azure's face had darkened with seriousness. The frightened girl in his grasp went shock white and started to shake slightly.

"I came here to ask him to save my village." She said, barely louder than a whisper. Azure's eyes flashed dangerously. "The King's greed has turned him into a monster, we're being forced from our homes just to mine the land to the point that it can no longer sustain our crops. Our people are starving and those who aren't are little more than thugs who abuse us if they think we aren't pulling our weight! It's gotten bad enough that despite the rumors about Gyumao, our people would rather live under him than Gourmet!" Azure was glaring at a point above and behind the girl by this point.

"What do you think?" He asked. The girl blinked in confusion and turned to look at what the strange boy was talking to. She barely stopped herself from shrieking when she saw the giant man wearing an angry expression.

"I think that Gourmet needs to be stopped. I realize the hypocrisy coming from me, but I have learned my lesson. However I doubt I can take him out alone." Gyumao said, voice deep with anger, though some of it was directed at himself.

"Good thing I want a shot at him too then." Azure practically growled. He released the girl from his grip and walked back to his capsule house to pack it up.

"I will come with you both also." Roshi said as he stepped up to Gyumao's side. He turned to Bulma. "Why don't you take Goku and Oolong and finish your adventure. We'll send Azure after you once we finish up with Gourmet." Bulma sighed and pulled a watch-like object from her pocket.

"Fine, just give this to him, it will display the location of my dragon radar. That should be good enough for him to find me." She handed the device to Roshi and turned around. "Old man. Make sure Azure is able to catch up to us okay?" Roshi would have teased her, but he could hear the genuine concern in her voice.

"I promise." Roshi said, hoping he would be able to keep that promise. After Bulma had left, and a short argument with Goku, Roshi turned to see Azure emerge from his Capsule House with a plate of food. Azure returned the house to its capsule and walked over to them.

"So what do we call you?" Azure asked the girl they were helping as he handed her the food he had prepared. "And make sure you eat that, I can tell you haven't had a proper meal in a while. No complaints." The girl took the food obediently and introduced herself as Penny. While she ate, she gave them information on what she knew of Gourmet's forces.

"So, we have an unknown number of goons, the Major who is massive but not a giant, Raven the seductive mercenary, and Gourmet himself." Azure tallied off to himself. "Getting the villagers to safety is a priority, and a problem if they aren't willing to accept the reality of leaving their homes. I suggest we try to slip in undetected and blend in with the miners." Azure said to Roshi. "While working we can smuggle some villagers out at night to Gyumao who can bring them back here for safety. I can make a call and have construction crews here to rebuild some of the larger structures to use as shelters for the time being, and a team of specialized chefs that can make sure the meals will help the villagers recover from any malnourishment. I can also have some doctors here to check the overall health of the ones we get out."

"Do that then." Gyumao said decisively. "It would also be nice if we had one or two others who we could trust to help with defending the area and overseeing things here." Azure looked at Gyumao for a moment before snapping his fingers and sending his house out again. Without a word he walked inside. Several minutes later he emerged.

"Ok, I have my other sister, Tights, on her way. She can oversee the facilities here and will be bringing some of her friends to help with security. They insisted they would only defend the villagers though and would not help take down Gourmet. Which is fine with me." Azure told them when he returned. "I also already placed the call to my dad to get the others I mentioned over here as soon as possible. They will be here by tomorrow morning. Gyumao, Chi-Chi, you two stay here and wait for them. Roshi and I will slip in tonight and have people ready for you tomorrow night."

"Sounds good to me." Roshi said, standing up and stretching his back, earning several loud pops. "Just one thing, what about Penny?" Azure turned to the girl and then shrugged. "We need her to tell us where the village is, and blending in would be easier with some help. I will leave it up to her however if she comes with us or stay here where it will be safe." Penny insisted she could and would go back with them, though she might end up getting sent back with the first group.

**~A/N~**

I do not own Dragon Ball.

It starts...

Yes, I am incorporating the movies into the story. Hopefully you enjoy the product. This is only the beginning, and the introduction to Azure. There is more to come, and in the meantime we can all sit and wonder how Ao's past will effect Azure's future.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Gourmet's Blood Rubies**

**Age 749**

"Get back to work you worthless maggot!" The guard screamed angrily as he stomped brutally on the back of Azure's unprotected head, driving his face into the mud. Azure stifled a growl and fought the urge to retaliate, knowing any show of resistance could prove disastrous to the current goal. He and Roshi had been in the village for three days now and Azure's patience had been worn thin on the very night he had arrived in the village.

Upon entering the village, Azure had detected three hostile presences in an alley a couple streets over. When he went to investigate he had found three of Gourmet's goons brutalizing a girl about Penny's age. At that moment Azure had realized a flaw in his plan. He had planned to take the villagers out of the village, but not how to weaken Gourmet's forces for when the inevitable battle began. Azure decided that in the dead of night, starting with these three, some of the nightly patrols would disappear.

The guard finally stopped stomping on Azure and allowed Azure to crawl back to his hands and knees. Azure was just about to push back up to his feet when a whip cracked across his back. "Stop playing in the mud, brat, and start mining those rubies!" A new guard screamed as he began whipping Azure tirelessly. Azure and Roshi had discovered that the guards would always be beating someone, their favorites to beat were the ones that tried to act tough, so Azure had been getting beaten since his first day in the pits. Roshi was playing the part of concerned grandfather and was kept out of the pits most days due to him being a "weak old man" who couldn't work the mines. This was done according to their plan, as Roshi would be in a better position to convince the villagers to flee, he also was able to keep a flare gun concealed on himself just in case they needed to push their time table. Azure had asked Tights to convince her friend Jaco to implement this particular measure, making it seem like it was his own "Super Elite" idea. Azure has tried to convince the Galactic Patrolman to spar with him before, but that has always ended with Jaco rushing away with some excuse or other.

The sun began to set, bringing an end to the work for the day and Roshi walked calmly into the pits to where Azure lay bleeding from the abuse he had absorbed that day. Azure was in a crouched position one knee hovering barely off the ground the other tucked against his shoulder. It looked as though Azure was about to stand, but Roshi could tell that the boy had lost consciousness at last. Even the villagers were appalled by the brutality the guards were showing Azure. It seemed that Azure alone was earning all of the punishment that would normally have been spread over the entire workforce, and then some. Roshi half carried half dragged Azure back to where they were staying while in the village and carefully cleaned and dressed his injuries. There were about three hundred and fifty villagers, over the last two nights they had managed to sneak twenty five of them out to Gyumao. Roshi just finished setting Azure to bed so the boy could recover when he heard a knock on his door. Roshi moved to answer it and let the three men inside.

"It's getting worse Master." The first man said. "They actually managed to knock him out this time. If this persists, they will kill him soon." Roshi nodded his head solemnly thinking back to what he had promised Bulma before they had left Frypan.

"His patience may not last that long." The second man said. "I saw it today, his whole body tensed when the first guard stopped him. The boy will snap in a couple days, at most." Again Roshi nodded.

"I agree." Roshi said softly. "We continue tonight as planned, gather the group that is leaving, but also spread the word quietly that we may have to make a mass exodus soon."

"What will the signal be?" The third asked.

"A flare. If Azure losses his cool, there will be no stopping him from tearing through the guards. And frankly I don't want to stop him. It is taking all of my discipline to keep myself back with what I am forced to witness. If I fire the flare, you villagers will have to leave together calmly and orderly. Some of our allies on the outside will join you and escort you to Pleasant Valley, where Mount Frypan once stood." The three men nodded as one and silently left the house to do their part for the night's activities. An hour later, Azure awoke and winced slightly as he got slowly out of bed. A quick glance out the window told him Roshi should still be busy getting the night's escapees out, he still had time to remove some of the patrols before Roshi's return.

The next morning, as Azure was entering the pit, he heard a group of guards cackling. Azure knew that Roshi was still watching him but that didn't stop him from turning to see what had the guards in such a good mood. They had one of the young women of the village cornered and were being blatantly obvious about their intentions. Azure's instincts told him that if he interfered there would be no returning to the subtle plan they had working right now, but he also knew that if he did nothing, she would be assaulted. Glancing apologetically at Roshi, Azure walked over to the six guards with the woman and grabbed two of them by the head and slammed them together. There was a stunned few seconds which had the entire village processing what had just happened. Azure quickly took down the four other guards and grabbed the woman and turned. A flare shot into the sky and exploded alerting the help on the outside that the plan had changed. The remaining guards did two things, most began firing at Azure, while some radioed that the villagers were rebelling. The villagers made a rapid, only slightly panicked retreat towards Roshi, who tossed aside the flare gun and directed the villagers to ten men he had prepared to help him smuggle everyone out. With the villagers now able to take care of getting themselves out, Roshi turned to where he had last seen Azure and couldn't find him at first. A series of explosions inside the pit told him where he had gone. Roshi turned from the pit and rushed to meet the advancing forces to hopefully halt their advance until Gyumao could arrive. Azure had told him a contingency plan and he had accepted it readily. Azure would first deal with any soldiers in and around the pit, then try to find Raven. Roshi would hold the line until Gyumao arrived then move to take out the Major. Gyumao, being ideal against large numbers and tanks, would handle most of the soldiers until the two secondary threats were dealt with, then the three of them would take Gourmet together if possible.

Azure rushed through the mines. He had close to fifty men chasing him. He had passed a dozen workers who had arrived before him and had directed them away from his path and pursers and had told them to leave the village. Azure arrived in a large chamber that was currently the end of the line, a dead end.

"Wrong turn you annoying rat!" One of the men chasing him called as the fifty men forced their way into the chamber. "Nowhere left to run." They leveled their guns at Azure who smirked and sped past them all. Once at their backs, and outside the chamber he called back.

"Maybe that was the plan!" Azure lit and tossed a single stick of dynamite into the group of men and ran back towards the exit. The chamber was filled with explosives so they would be able to eventually start tunneling again, but now he had used them to collapse the entire mine. Azure and the other workers had been slowly spreading the explosives across the entire mine system so that a single stick would light up the entire mine in a chain that would collapse most of the area that could be used as a battlefield. Azure was pushing himself to his absolute limit trying to stay ahead of the explosions that were singing his socks. Azure leapt for the exit as the charge right next to him detonated. Something impacted his left shoulder and he sprawled onto the ground, just barely able to watch as most of the village and its surrounding fields were riddled with explosions and became scarred with bloody trenches.

Roshi was standing before the approaching force, wondering how he would slow them down without expending all of his energy in a massive Kamehameha. Suddenly the ground around him began to shake and it was only his exceptional reflexes that allowed him to jump out of the way of the explosions that would have consumed him had he been any more distracted. Roshi landed and was able to watch as the ground was riddled with yet more explosions from the mines below. All of the tanks, and about half of the foot soldiers were wiped out as the ground collapsed on them.

"Nat bad for an on the fly plan huh?" Azure panted as he stepped up next to where Roshi stood. Gyumao arriving at about the same time.

"You just handled about half of this problem. Now it is reasonable for me to handle the rest all at once. We just need to funnel them." Roshi replied.

"That shouldn't be too hard, Master." Gyumao commented, pointing towards the enemy troops. "They seem to have a relatively straight path right for us, pretty smooth one too."

"That wasn't planned by the way." Azure gasped out. Roshi looked over at the younger of his companions. There was no way he was already that worn out. Roshi was about to ask what had happened when he saw something red sticking out of Azures left shoulder.

"You should fall back son." Roshi said to Azure. "You've been injured. Go help lead the villagers back to Pleasant Valley."

"No way. I just found a reason I have to stay." Azure was looking at the sky. The Major was on a floating platform flying high above the enemy troops. "Unless either of you can fly, I'm the only one who can get up there."

"Go, but be careful. Your left arm is hurt badly, any worse and the damage could be permanent." Roshi warned as Azure tossed the capsule that contained his hover board. As Azure mounted it and flew to meet the Major Roshi glanced at Gyumao before turning back to the approaching troops. "Step back Gyumao. I'm going to use the Kamehameha." Gyumao stepped back and watched as his Master's body suddenly expanded into his Muscle Form and took up a familiar position. "Ka… Me… Ha… Me… HA!" Roshi called as he thrust his palms forward and fired the same beam that had destroyed Mount Frypan. Above them Azure had seen the whole thing and smirked at the potential use of learning that technique. Gyumao stepped back up to Roshi's side as Roshi returned to his normal state. The two shared a glance before charging into the few remaining soldiers and then into the castle.

"An injured child is the best they could send to face me?" The Major snarled. "These rebels are worse off than I thought."

"Oh, I'm not just an injured child." Azure said boastfully. "I'm an incredibly injured child who is dangerously reckless." Azure then sped towards the large man and used a feint to trick the man into making a large swing for Azure's seemingly unprotected left shoulder. When Azure saw his feint had worked, he quickly rolled off his board and allowed it's fall recovery system to catch him before rapidly ascending and flipping to land a powerful double-palm strike to the Major's face, sending him stumbling backwards off his outdated hover device. Azure took a moment to recover as he watched the Major impact the ground and made sure he was not going to get back up. Azure had underestimated how much that maneuver would take out of him in his current state. "Guess I'm hurt worse than I thought." Azure mumbled as he flinched from another stab of pain shooting through his system. Azure began a slow flight into the castle, he still had to try to help against Gourmet after all.

à

The villagers reached the edge of their village without any trouble, but that was where their luck ended. Raven stood in the center of the gate, with ten soldiers blocking it, and her, from them.

"Trapped and abandoned. What will you bumpkins do now?" Raven purred as she casually inspected the pistol she held. The crowd of villagers began to murmur uncertainly when a shadow flashed across the crowd.

"Have no fear earthlings, for you are protected by me, the Super Elite Galactic Patrolman, Jaco!" Raven, the soldiers, and the villagers all turned to the source of the voice. There, standing atop one of the gateposts was a diminutive alien with a light blue face, purple skin, and big, yellow, insect-like eyes. The alien, called Jaco apparently, was standing with one leg bent slightly, his back turned to them, though he was looking over his left shoulder at them, and both arms raised in the air, his hands almost making the finger-pistol gesture, the left arm was raised slightly higher than the right. Unknown to them was that this was what Jaco referred to as the "Super Elite Pose" and that he would strike it whenever he deemed it relevant. Raven had seen enough and fired at the strange Jaco, spurring her men to do the same. Jaco used cleverness and some expert marksmanship with his blaster pistol to counter their number advantage. About two minutes after Jaco had appeared, Raven and her ten men were bound and unconscious. "Now then, if some of you would be so kind as to help me transport the prisoners, we should really get going." Jaco said to the stunned and very confused villagers.

à

"We're in trouble." Gyumao said softly between heaving breaths. Roshi had used more power than he had thought on that last Kamehameha and was running low after having tried two weaker ones to no effect against the elastic body of Gourmet's monstrous form.

"I know. If only I were a couple decades younger, I'd still have the energy to whoop this arrogant fool of a king." Roshi said as he tried to steady himself after his latest failed attempt.

"Maybe I can help?" Azure said, startling the older two with his sudden arrival. "I still have plenty of energy, it's just this stupid injury that's messing with me. If you tell me the basics of the Kamehameha, combined with my having seen it, I should be able to pull it off. I may overdo it, but better that then it not working." Roshi considered this then relented.

"Basically put, it's just gathering all the latent energy in your body, focusing it into the palm of your hands, than releasing it all at once in the form of a massive beam. I'm not sure if just knowing that will be enough for you to learn it though. It took me fifty years to create the Kamehameha wave." Roshi paused for a moment. "Then again I did just see Goku pick it up that easily so maybe it will be enough."

Azure nodded and focused on doing what was instructed. "You two distract him as much as you can while I charge this. Don't do anything too reckless though, I don't know what you two have left." The pair nodded and charged in to engage Gyumao while Azure forced his body to move how he had seen Roshi do earlier. "Ka…" Gyumao tackled Gourmet causing the purple monster to stumble back a few steps before batting Gyumao away with a massive right uppercut. "Me…." Roshi dropped in from above, attempting to cross-chop the back of Gourmet's neck, but simply bounced off the blubbery body of the mutated king. "Ha….." Gyumao was back on his feet and charged again, this time he readied his ax to try to chop into Gourmet's head, Roshi recovered in the air and kicked off the wall rushing back in to deliver a flying kick to the back of Gourmet's head. Azure's left arm burned as the thing embedded in his shoulder shifted as he slid his foot forward. "Me…" Gourmet knocked Gyumao's ax spinning into the air where it stuck into the stone celling, then grabbed Gyumao's extended arm and delivered a shoulder toss that sent Gyumao flying into Roshi and them both crashing into the wall Roshi had just kicked off of. Azure felt something was wrong with the power in his hands, he had botched the wave somehow, but he could work with this. Azure rushed forward and jumped. As he got right next to Gourmet's head, Gourmet turned and closed his mouth around Azure in an attempt to swallow him. "HA!" Azure screamed and released the botched attack. The energy exploded violently in all directions, but was mostly contained since he had been inside Gourmet's annoyingly durable body. Azure was blasted from Gourmet's mouth by the force of the explosion and crashed through the far wall, and the wall after that.

By the time Azure stubbornly made it to his feet, Gyumao and Roshi were already approaching, followed by Tights. Azure grinned as they ran up to him. "I win." He gasped out.

"You are an idiot Azure." Tights said without a hint of hesitance. "If I had known what you were planning to do here I would have stopped you before you ever got into this village." Azure however reached over his left shoulder and pulled. He revealed a bloodied ruby that had been embedded in his shoulder.

"Look sis, a McGuffin and title for the novelization of what happened here that you're gonna write. A Blood Ruby." Azure sassed before promptly passing out. Azure next woke up inside a strange tank looking through the liquid and the glass he could see his parents and Tights standing beside a Capsule Corp. Employee he recognized as Gina. Gina had helped raise him and had also trained him in the basics of medicine, engineering and martial arts when he first displayed an interest in those fields. The fluid drained after the people outside noticed he was awake. After the fluid was drained the glass opened and Azure was able to climb out.

"Amazing. He was only in there for four hours, yet he seems to be completely restored." Doctor Briefs exclaimed. "Gina, you really have out done yourself this time."

"Maybe, but that still doesn't mean the hospitals will allow me to install these, since I won't share the formula for the fluid." Gina said, annoyance clear in her voice. Gina was a rather tiny woman, but Azure knew she was still stronger than he was, by far. Gina had dark brown, almost black, hair and her eyes were as black as charcoal. "Anyway, I'm just glad you trusted me to put Azure in here. I'm not sure we could have fixed that left arm otherwise." Gina said gently to the Briefs before rounding on Azure. "And YOU! You should know better than to just yank things out of your own back like that, you can't get the proper leverage or angle to ensure you don't do any further damage!" Azure stared at his feet, he viewed Gina as a sort of second mom, so having her berate him was sobering. It was when he looked down however that he realized he was standing in a room full of people quite naked. He glanced around and saw it was only his family, minus Bulma, Gina, Roshi, and Gyumao, so he was able to shrug off any embarrassment he might have felt otherwise. "Now go get dressed then we can make sure you're really back to one hundred percent, the machine says you are, but we should still make sure." Gina added softer. Azure did as he was told and after some simple exercises he was released from the temporary med bay that was in Pleasant Valley. As he stepped outside Azure spotted Roshi sitting in a chair smoking his pipe. Roshi had left shortly after Azure had begun his exercises so Azure had decided to track him down to ask about what had happened with the Kamehameha. As he approached however he noticed Bulma marching up to Roshi, fire in her eyes.

"Letch! You told me Azure would catch up to me!" Bulma screamed as she stopped right in front of Roshi. "You!" Azure walked up and poked Bulma in the center of her back, interrupting her tirade. "Azure! You're okay!"

"Of course I am, why must you always sound so surprised by that?" Azure mock pouted. "Anyway, I'm sorry I didn't get to catch back up with you. This whole thing took a little longer than I expected is all. Honestly." Bulma didn't look like she believed him but let the subject drop.

"Fine. But you are going to make it up to me by letting me borrow your Hover Board whenever I want now. And I'm going to get the full story from Tights." Bulma said ending the argument.

"How about I just make you your own hover board instead? That way you don't need to take mine. As for Tights, well she may not tell you what happened. I think she plans on writing a book about it, if the others don't mind." Bulma huffed and stormed away leaving a chuckling Azure and Roshi alone. "So I have a couple questions about my Kamehameha." Azure admitted as he turned his focus to Roshi.

"I figured you would. You will have to tell me what happened as I didn't see it myself. But that can wait. I have talked to your parents and they have agreed to let you come stay on my island to train if you want to. You would be there until the next Tenkaichi Budokai, at least."

"Sounds great. I was thinking about asking for training anyway. I have been looking for a master since the last one. Though I suppose I could have asked Gina to train me some more." Azure stated before agreeing to train with Roshi. He went to talk to his parents and sisters before leaving, as well as thanking those who had answered his summons for aid. Mrs. Briefs pulled out a capsule and revealed it to be the Jet Azure had been working on before he left. She had finished it for him and he was grateful since Roshi had just admitted he had no way to get them back without calling Baby Gamera, the spinning flying turtle Azure had thought he had hallucinated before. Roshi and Azure got into the two person jet and took off.

**~A/N~**

I do not own Dragon Ball in any format.

So Azure is of to train with Roshi. Lets see how this affects the coming tournament. After all, this would not be Azure's first appearance in one.

As usual, I appreciate feedback in any form you choose to give it. See you next chapter!


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: The Hand of the Devil**

**Age 749**

Azure and Roshi walked inside Roshi's house and sat in the living room. Azure looked to Roshi who leaned back and sighed tiredly.

"That was some jet you've built Azure. Talent and Experience like what you showed by getting to the semi-finals at age ten, and against Gourmet, coupled with the intelligence needed to design a jet like that one. I will not be able to train you in the way I normally would." Roshi sat forward and locked eyes with Azure. "I will reformat my training regime to best compliment your style of learning. I watched the tournament and still have it recorded around here somewhere. I will re-watch it as I think on how to do this. In the meantime, I have your first task. Tell me, have you heard the legend of the Sleeping Princess of the Devil's Hand?"

"I recall hearing the myth, but I never really cared enough to listen too closely." Azure admitted.

"Well the devils hand is a region of mountains where five peaks form the appearance of a hand clasping something. Legend says that long ago the demon Lucifer took the most beautiful princess of the time and sealed her away in his castle at the devils hand. It also says that she still sleeps there in an enchanted sleep, and once free she will awaken." Roshi explained. "Your test is to go to the devils hand, and bring the princess to me. I'm not sure how accurate the legend is but I do know that the place is real. Travel to the west and you will find the devils hand. But be warned, legend says that Lucifer is still there guarding her, and that he has an army of demons to serve him."

"Any rules?" Azure asked as he stood to leave.

"This trip is to serve as a test of your skills, which means no flying on that contraption of yours. Run, walk, climb, jump, or swim to reach the hand." Roshi said as he rose to walk Azure out. "You may fly back but only after you have either collected the Princess, or the truth of the Hand." The pair arrived at the edge of the beach and Azure waded out to waist depth before diving below the waves and beginning to swim to the west. Shortly after Azure departed, Goku arrived and requested training from Roshi.

"I can practically taste the coming battle." Azure muttered to himself as he crested another mountain and was finally able to clearly see the Devil's Hand. Even from where he stood atop the next mountain over, still several kilometers away, he could feel the malevolent power radiating from the Hand. A result of the demons said to reside there. On the other side of this mountain was a small village, Azure had stayed there the previous night and was well rested to finish the trek today. It was still early in the morning and the sun had only just risen fully above the horizon. With the sun at his back, Azure descended the mountain in leaps and bounds, determined to reach the Hand by noon at the latest. Halfway down the mountain, Azure found himself passing through a thick blanket of fog that he could not see beyond, and once he entered it, lost sight of the world behind him. His progress was slowed while within the fog as he could not judge how far below the next ledge would be to drop to.

When Azure finally reached the ground at the base of the mountain, he surveyed the area. The ground below the fog was an expansive swampland that seemed to cover the entire valley around the Hand. The fog cover did block the sun entirely, but the result was that the fog itself had an almost ethereal glow that cast the swamp into an eerie light. There was a soundtrack of songbirds chirping a distorted tune, bestial cries and roars added a booming bass and predatory harmony, all kept going by the irregular rhythm of the buzzing insects. Azure felt the psychological effects of the light, the sounds, and the isolated feeling of this place immediately. Taking a moment to center himself mentally, Azure pushed the sounds and other phenomenon to the back of his mind and returned to his goal. Walking toward the base of the Hand, Azure quickly realized he would have to find a cave and hope it lead in and up since the cliff face was smooth on all sides. As Azure circled the Hand, he took note that the swamp was completely closed in on all sides by a wall of stone which was the mountain range that surrounded the Hand.

As Azure found a cave, which he had almost launched a Kamehameha at due to the illusion the opening had held when he first saw it, he decided he found this place rather appealing. The cave entrance held a look of the head of a massive serpent or dragon, with its jaws open wide ready to devour its prey. The mental fortitude needed to function here, and the sprawling labyrinth of caves he was now in, provided exactly the kind of challenge he had long sought for a training area. All he needed now was a location to build a main structure and he would be set, and he figured he could build it in the palm of the Hand if nothing else, though there was supposed to be a castle in here somewhere. Azure had decided to refer to the tunnels as the "Dragon's Throat", it just sounded right to him. Azure allowed his mind to wander as he took in the carved walls of the tunnels, designed to look as though they were littered with skeletons, discarded weapons, and occasional demonic or draconic statues.

Azure reached the end of the tunnel branch he was following and absently dropped to the ground of the open chamber he was now in. It was a spacious chamber that contained the fabled castle of Lucifer in the center. The fact that the castle was dwarfed by the size of the cavern was not lost on Azure.

"INTRUDER!" The cry tore through the air and snapped Azure out of his thoughts. He spun around and found he was in clear view of no fewer than fifteen tunnel openings, each one had a surging forth a horde of demons and monsters. Azure began fighting the rising odds, well aware that most of them were rushing past him, spreading the warning of his presence and going to whatever had gathered them all together to begin with. Now that Azure was not distracted by his own thoughts he realized, frustrated, that he had allowed his mental defenses to slip and relaxed while he had walked. Had he been paying more attention, he would have noticed the growing horde he was now tangled up in. Azure was surrounded on all sides, including above, and knew he would have to deal with the foes who were earthbound before worrying about the flying ones beyond countering their attacks.

While Azure was busy fighting for his life, Goku was just returning to Roshi's island. Goku and Krillin, a small bald boy who had arrived after Goku seeking training from Roshi as well, had been tasked with finding a pretty girl to go on a date with Roshi to convince him to train them. They had found a young woman named Lunch. Lunch was an attractive young woman with purple-blue hair and an innocent personality, but she had a rather interesting quirk. Whenever Lunch sneezes, she turns into the violent Launch. Launch looks identical to Lunch, since they share the same body, though she has blonde hair, her personality is drastically different however as Launch is a gun-happy greedy woman who will do whatever she needs to get what she wants. Roshi accepted the two boys as pupils and gathered what he'd need to train them, leaving Turtle with instructions to inform Azure of their new location should he return. Roshi also left the message in a written form in case Turtle was away from the island when Azure arrived.

Azure dodged into a backflip to create some distance after felling the final grounded enemy. Once he landed he quickly tossed the capsule that held his hover board and jumped onto it as soon as the dust dispersed. Azure quickly took off flying through the tunnels, the flying enemies chasing after him. Azure led them through a recreation of his favorite chase scenes in movies he had seen, mostly to see if they would work for thinning the herd by causing them to take ridiculously sharp turns and steep dives. It worked far better than he had thought it would and he only had six still chasing him when he started back toward the castle. He made a wrong turn along the way however and wound up back outside of the hand over the lake he had seen on what he believed to be the southern side. Diving toward the surface to circle back in through a lower tunnel, Azure glanced back and saw the six remaining targets were still following him. Azure's instincts flared and he hastily jumped off his board into the nearest cave opening. He rolled to his feet after landing and looked back to find the jaws of a monstrous alligator snapping shut just outside the opening. The mouth alone was more than fifteen meters long and he hadn't even seen the things eyes, so it was likely even larger than he thought. Azure stood dumbly for a second before snapping back to awareness and noticed that his pursuers had also been caught in the creature's bite, since he was now alone. Azure started sprinting back toward the castle chamber hoping that the growing horde he had left there had dispersed while he'd been busy.

Goku, and Krillin stood before Roshi outside of Kame House at its new location. They watched as Roshi drew his symbol on a plain white stone and hurled it into the wilderness below the cliff they were on. Roshi then sent the boys to retrieve the stone, this was to be their first official test as students of the Kame-Sennin style.

Azure arrived back in the castle chamber just as a terrified scream tore through the air. Azure felt something inside him slip and his world faded.

In the castle, Lucifer moved to draw the virgin blood of a young woman he had lured here for the sole purpose of bleeding dry for the ritual he needed to restore the power of the sleeping princess. He reached out and grabbed her by the throat with his left hand and raised the dagger he held in his right. As he plunged the dagger forward something caught his wrist, stopping his thrust. Looking to the source, he saw a male human with blue hair standing with a painful grip on his wrist. Lucifer was about to threaten the foolish child when he noticed the white glow coming from his eyes and the pure primal feel of his aura. The boy let loose a primal scream that reverberated around the castle, sounding as though there were more than one voice. The scream was followed by Lucifer being thrown far from the girl.

The girl watched in awe and fear as this possessed looking boy who had appeared from nowhere began battling the entire horde of demons and monsters. Even as Lucifer joined back in the battle the boy only evaded and countered, doing so in a way that saw the attacks he only dodged taking out more of his enemies. She was distracted from the fight when a glow from her left caught her attention. She looked to the raised platform where a bed with veil and canopy stood. She had seen a faint outline of a woman's form in the bed before and now was watching as the silhouette began to move. The figure moved to the veil and seemed to be watching the raging battle below. The girl turned to look at it as well and when she looked back, the woman was gone. The girl fell to the floor and hugged her knees to her chest, trying to force herself to become as small as possible so no one would notice her. The fight ended to see the boy as the sole survivor. He approached her and she whimpered. His expression softened at the sound surprising her, but she was even more alarmed when the boy staggered and fell onto his face.

Azure woke to the sound of someone crying. He could tell the person was female from the pitch of the voice. With a pained groan, Azure forced himself upright and looked to the girl. She had bushy purple hair, and was quite attractive. She looked up shortly after he looked at her, assumedly reacting to the sound he had made, and started to stop crying.

"You're okay." She said as her voice and breathing evened out.

"Seems so yeah, besides the aching." Azure admitted. "Any idea what happened here?" Azure asked after pausing a moment to look around and seeing the scattered corpses of the monster horde.

"You don't know?" She asked, causing Azure to shake his head. "You happened." Azure snapped his focus back to her with rapt attention. "You seemed to be possessed, you just appeared grabbing the leaders arm as he was about to stab me, then you just started fighting them. When it was all over you came over here and passed out. I thought you were dead." She explained.

"Wow, I don't remember any of that. Last thing I remember was getting back to the chamber and hearing a scream. That must have triggered whatever it was." Azure theorized.

"I guess so. The princess woke up too, not sure how though. They said they needed my blood to wake her up." The girl said quietly. Azure blinked a few times before looking to the raised platform that now held the girl's gaze. Azure slowly got to his feet and went to investigate. When he returned he shook his head.

"I'm not sure what you saw, but there's no one there now, and I can't detect anyone else anywhere in the castle." Azure informed her. After a short pause Azure held his hand out to her. "I'm Azure by the way. What's your name?"

"Violet." She answered as she took his offered hand and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet.

"Well Violet, what do you say we get out of here. I can get you to the nearest village, but after that I have to leave you to get back to my training."

"Training?" She asked.

"For martial arts, I plan on entering the tournament coming up." At her nod he continued. "If you don't mind my saying so, I bet you could do well yourself. Maybe not in this one, but the next. You may not see it but you were pretty brave for not running once the attention was off you. And for sticking around to see if I was alright. To me that proves you could be quite strong if you put forth the effort. Though if fighting isn't something you're in to you can still excel in your chosen field with the traits I just said." By the time Azure stopped talking, Violet felt confident he was right. She even had her mind set on what she wanted.

"Thank you. But I think we should focus on getting out of here first." Violet pointed out and the two began their trek towards the village. Azure stayed in the inn he had on his way through the first time to recover, and set on his way back to Roshi the following morning. Violet left that night, not wanting to stay so close to the Hand and what she had been through.

Unnoticed by Azure, someone was watching him from just beyond his perception.

**~A/N~**

I do not own Dragon Ball in any form.

Goku and Krillin's training progresses as usual for this chapter, but Azure will return soon. Meanwhile Azure's mission seems to have taken strange turns, who knows what could come of this. Just who could that strange form have been that Violet claims to have seen be? And just who is Violet? Don't worry soon you will have these answers, and a whole new series of questions... See you next chapter!


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